Simple and Effective Tips for Human Resources Investigations
My daughter is five now, and by the time she was 2, she started to understand what “fairness” is. I think the desire to be treated ‘fairly’ is inherent to our human nature. As a member of the ethics and compliance community, whether your department is legal, compliance, human resources, or something else, you have a responsibility to your constituents to create an investigation process that is as fair, transparent, consistent, and unbiased as possible. ’ve found that even if your employees do not like the outcome of the investigation or the answer to their question, they are far more likely to respect it if they know they are treated like everyone else.
Here are some protocol tips to help you create a consistent human resources investigation process and ultimately build a culture of trust.
The Investigator’s Role
As an investigator, your primary role is to assess whether or not the reported concern is valid. Meaning you gather the necessary evidence to determine what occurred. During the evidence collection process, it is essential that you:
Be unbiased and not favor one outcome or another.
Seek evidence that supports the concern as well as evidence that contradicts it.
Do not jump to conclusions or assume you know the outcome, even if you have seen similar facts previously.
Let the evidence reveal what occurred.
Be unbiased as well as appear unbiased… Remember, reality is based on perception.
Always act within the law and follow your company’s policies and procedures.
Create an Investigation Plan
If you set up a compliance hotline and promote it effectively, they will call, so be prepared and have an investigation plan in place. If you do not have an investigation plan, think through the potential sources of evidence and be mindful of the order in which you might seek it. A proper human resources investigation is built on solid planning and dramatically increases the chances of reaching an accurate conclusion. To help get you started, here’s an outline for creating an investigation plan:
Review - You must review the specific language in relevant policies, procedures, and laws to ensure you understand what is permitted or prohibited. Knowing precisely what the law/policies say will help you determine what evidence you may need to collect.
Brainstorm - Think about potential sources of evidence. Write your ideas down, and remember that no idea is a bad idea.
Organize – Once you have finished brainstorming, organize your thoughts in an outline. For example, you can organize your ideas using the following categories.
Potential witnesses (people you might interview)
Site visits
Possible physical evidence and documents
Electronic evidence/data/communications
Potentially relevant policies
Dialogue with the reporter, known or anonymous
Past relevant reports and cases
Prioritize - Identify the actions that will be the most advantageous to take at the beginning of an investigation. For example, is there any hard evidence such as email messages, pictures, video footage, or badge data showing when a specific person entered or exited a building? Also, try to gather as much information about your witnesses as possible before meeting with them so you know what you are walking into. You want to be the most informed person in the room. And, of course, do not forget to enter the evidence you collect as you collect it into your Case Management System.
The Case Management System Role
During an investigation, it is essential to leverage a centralized repository, ideally, some sort of Case Management System (CMS), to log and track the documentation collecting stage of the investigation and the conclusion and resolution. Things to remember:
Your CMS allows you to efficiently track, follow up on, and analyze all questions and concerns raised through your hotline, as well as issues received through other channels.
Data entered accurately and promptly will help you be more efficient and potentially identify actions that can help prevent similar issues in the future.
If you are lucky enough to be more than a team of one, make sure to assign a case manager as soon as a question or issue comes in so it’s clear who has responsibility for the concern.
Always ensure a “thank you” message is sent to the report. For example, “Thank you for sharing your concern. We take all reports seriously and will be conducting a thorough investigation. Please check back within 72 hours for an update or follow-up questions." The reporter must know their concern or question is acknowledged and not lost in a black hole.
Most importantly, your CMS will help ensure a consistent and unbiased approach to investigation and resolution.
As you build trust and promote your ethics and compliance hotline, your employees will start to share their questions and concerns through your hotline web portal, over the phone, directly to you, or directly to management. Remember, regardless of how the concern comes in or to whom it is reported, you should have a consistent process to document and manage the investigation. I think Brit Hume said it best, “Fairness is not an attitude. It's a professional skill that must be developed and exercised.”
The ETHIX360 blog brings you weekly updates on all things human resources and compliance.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Stephanie Farmer is a seasoned ethics and compliance (E&C) professional. She has earned an MA in both Business and Professional and Applied Ethics and is a graduate of The Ethics & Compliance Initiative Managing Ethics in an Organization Program. Prior to and during her E&C career, Stephanie served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and the North Carolina Air National Guard.
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